Be the Better, Brighter World You Want to See
Key Lesson: There are times when the greatest act of kindness we can express towards another human being is to swallow our own sadness, or to refuse to make that sarcastic or impatient remark. Acts of kindness such as these cost us ourselves, and when we agree to pay this price it is a better, brighter world that we buy back.
Step Out of the Dark Cycle of Discontent
Our real "problem" with others isn't that they won't or can't give to us what we want from them. As we're about to discover, the true seed of discontent lies deeper than this. The short writing you're about to read is intended to help shed light on the real source of our unrest in our relationships.
The less we learn to long for -- or depend upon --
Special understanding from others,
The less we will suffer for not receiving this.
The less we suffer over what others
Seem incapable of giving to us,
The less unhappy will we find ourselves
In these unanswered moments of our lives
Spent in the company of friends and foes alike.
The less pain we have over what life appears to deny us,
The more at peace we naturally become with ourselves.
The more of this serenity we grow to know within ourselves,
The easier it becomes for us to give to others
This harmony founded in our New Understanding.
Whenever we give others this new order of Understanding
Without asking for anything in return,
Those we greet with this Gift are silently touched;
They are moved by this willingness to put their concerns before our own.
And it is this one action that awakens in them...
Their sleeping need to respond in kind.
Happiness is the wholeness found in conscious kindness.
This is the secret of perfect relationships.
